Elgan.net | Living Large with Kevin Elgan

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Fire on Penteli Mountain

My ferry from Crete came into Piraeus Port, Athens, Greece at 6 am. I was completely exhausted and made it back to the house by 7:30 am to just relax, nap and read all day.

I was talking to my beautiful girlfriend via skype when I realized the call was disconnected due to power outage. I went outside on the balcony to see what was up, then when i looked up I saw large amounts of billowing black smoke.

The fire was a couple blocks away so I alerted Mary Beth and the kids then we all went to check it out because rumor was that it was a house that caught fire.

As I walked to the scene of the fire, planes and helocopters began dumping water on the fire.

I took pictures and video of everything. The fire was put out about 2 hours later and everything and everybody is ok.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A Day of Rest

I woke up this morning and decided that I was just going to take it easy. I have been very tired from all the walking, hiking and trips, so I needed a day of recoop before I took off for the islands.

I did a little work in the late morning. Everybody else was getting ready to hike. I decided that I was going to tag along and get some excercise. I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

We drove to the back side of Pentalli mountain, stopping for water along the way, where there some nice trails to hike on. Unfortunately no shade. SARG (their dog) was in the back of the car flipping out in anticipation. We all started out down a path and Mick said that he was going to run and anyone who wanted could join. I volunteered to keep him company.

Now, what I didn't think about is that Mickey is in great shape and in training for the Mount Olympus marathon on June 29th. The other fact that I let slip my mind was that I hadn't run in a couple weeks and I'm not accustomed to running hills and mountains. I also didn't know how long we were running for.

We were running on a nice steady pace, a shuffle really. Nothing that I couldn't handle. We also were tallking the entire time so it was really nice. I could definitely notice the hills and grade fatiguing my legs faster than normal. I was going strong for 45 minutes then it was downhill for my legs even though we were running uphill. Meanwhile, I was thinking that we were almost done so I finished my water and powered through. By this time Mick was a little ahead of me. We made it to a road then Mickey said it was time to turn around and go back! I was already spent! I was dying of thirstAnd to make matters worse it felt like the entire way back was uphill. I wasn't out of breath, my legs were just on fire.

We ended up running 18 km and burning 1580 calories, not too shabby!

Mycenae

Today, I decided to go to Mycanae. Mycanae has a rich history incuding being the palace of Agamemnon. In the morning, Walton asked me if he could join me which I was happy about cause he's a huge history buff and can teach me a lot.

I met Walton and his Mom at the U.S. Embassy to pick him up then we took a taxi to a different bus station than yesterday. Once we got there, we realized that not many people spoke English. We managed to find the ticket window for Argos which is near Mycanae bought our tickets and once again had to run to catch the bus.

It was a 2 hour ride to Argos but 1 hour into the ride we both had to go to the bathroom. Once we arrived in Argos we asked the bus station dude for the bus to Mycanae and the bathroom and he told us that the bus was leaving. With no time for the bathroom we ran after the bus and hopped on with the bus still in motion.

10 minutes later, nature was calling and we asked if we could use the bathroom at the next stop. The door swung open and Walton sprinted for the bathroom. I was right behind him.

The site was amazing, probably one of the highlights of my trip thus far. To enter the palace, you walk through Lion's Gate. The Palace is strategically located at the top of a hill, making attack very difficult. The view from the top is awesome.

The coolest part of the site for me was the legendery ancient stairwell that Agamemnon's kids escaped the palace from. The story goes that during the Trojan War, Agamemnon and his 10,000 ships were sailing to Troy and they had no wind. A fortune teller with Agamemnon told him that if he sacrificed his youngest daughter it would bring great wind and take them all to Troy. He stabbed her in the heart and the winds tooks him to Troy. When he returned home, his wife killed him for revenge. Agamemnon's kids, Orestes and Elektra, murdered their mother for killing Agamemnon and escaped through the 99 stair passage leading out of the palace.

This was that passage and Walton and I were determined to make it down to the bottom with only a keychain flashlight. The stairwell was pitch black and cordoned off with a rope. We stepped over the rope and continued down stairwell. About 10 meters down, there were thousands of flies all over the place that we turned around and went back. We tried again, this time using Walton's pant legs that I had cut off earlier as a mask from the flies. I used the flash on my camera to illuminate the passage for a little bit, then walk down 5 stairs. After 15-20 minutes and about 75 stairs we realized that our bus (and last bus of the day) would arrive in 10 minutes. Unfortunately we couldn't make it to the bottom but it was a valient effort. We hurried back and caught the bus back to Argos.

Argos was a ghost town and probably 100 degrees F. After realizing that NOTHING was open, we managed to find an open cafe and ate a delicious Greek pizza. We caught our bus back to Athens and caught the Metro back to Halandri. Great day!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Cape Sounion

Today I set out to see the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion. I took the bus to the metro and the metro to Victoria and set out on foot in search of the Bus station that services Sounion.

I went to the ticket office and asked about the bus to Sounion and he told me to run after the bus that was pulling away. I sprinted for the bus and hopped on.

It was 2 hour journey down the Saronic coast which was very scenic. It was like driving down PCH only cooler. Once we arrived you can see the Temple perched on top of a hill with a 360 degree view of sea, mountains and islands. Quite a spectacle.

After hanging out at the temple for a while, I decided to explore. I hiked down to the water line which was semi treacherous at times but it was a good thing I was wearing my hiking flip flops.

Grace had advised me to wear my bathing suit and with the gorgeous turquoise color of the water, I couldn't wait to jump in. I threw my stuff down on a rock and dove in only to realize that my stuff was only inches away from being swept out to see. I got out of the water and decided to find a better place to swim.

I hiked further around the peninsula and came to a nice little cove that I had to myself. It was next to an ancient wall, probably the foundation of the structure that once laid here. In the exploring mood, I grabbed my camera and jumped in the water. The cave was cool. In the back of the cave there was a well that led to the surface.

I did some swimming and tested out the underwater capabilities of my camera before hiking back to civilization and eating some grub while waiting for the bus to come.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Mongrels of Athens

I woke up today and decided to hit the town. I caught the bus and took it to the metro. Jumped on the subway and went to Akropoli. Once I was there, I decided to explore the entire area around the Acropolis more thoroughly. I revisited the Parthenon which is just friggin' awesome! I also saw the Odeon as well as the Cave Prison of Socrates.

On my way down from Socrates' Prison, I was attacked by rabid dirrty mongrels. I had been warned by my parents of homeless dogs that roam the street in packs but had yet to experience this phenomenon until today. I was chugging along enjoying the atmosphere, when four dogs out of nowhere starting barking and running towards me. My parents told me to pick up a rock and throw it at the dogs, but to my dismay I was standing in the only area without sizable rocks to throw. A life or death situation, my inner Alpha-Male took over. I threw down my backpack started barking and screaming like a mad man kicking dirt and running after all the dogs with my arms flailing in the air. This lasted about 1 minute until other people appeared semi frightened by the dogs or just freaked out by my bizzarre behavior.

After the dogs, I continued on to Zues' Temple which is massive and pretty cool. I stopped by a cafe to eat lunch and a frappe(mmm...). Walked to the Athens Archaeological Museum which has some pretty cool stuff in it but I felt was poorly organized.

Fatigued from the heat and all my walking, I got yet another Frappe and chatted with 2 American girls sitting next to me at the cafe. Afterwards I hit the Ancient Agora which is an ancient meeting place of the ancient greeks. This is where in ancient times they would convene for meetings or markets.

After my long day of walking and hiking, I hopped on the metro on my way back home. What a day...

Monday, June 16, 2008

A Day with Walton and Grace

Woke up today and spent the day with the kids. Since I had never really met them before (I saw Walton at a family reunion when he was 2), it was a nice chance to get to know them.

Walton is 13 years old and an extreme parkour enthusiast. Grace is 9 years old and loves animals. They are both very active children, they go running multiples times a week, hike and swim.

The kids took me for a walk around their part of town. The house is in the suburbs of Athens, about 4 km from the metro which is convenient for me.
321
We walked and got some authentic greek ice cream as I chatted with the two of them. Then we went to a park where we played parkour tag. After about an hour, we were all tired, me moreso than the others, and we returned to the house.

Mary Beth home at around 3 pm and took us all to the Acropolis, Akropoli to the Greeks, by metro. We walked out of the metro station and the gigundo Acropolis was right there, a surreal experience. We explored the Acropolis for about 1 hour while Walton gave me centuries worth of knowledge about the historical significance of the Parthenon and Greece.

We met Mickey for dinner with 2 of Mary Beth's relatives then hiked up to Mar's Rock to see Athens and the Acropolis at sunset. It was such an amazing feeling being up there. I kept on wishing that Nadia could've been there to see it with me.

After sunset we went home and I got rested up for my big day in Athens flying solo.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Travel Day

I had the night from hell at the airport. Couldn't sleep and no internet. Bad combination.

At 5 am I checked my pack in and headed for the business lounge. Once I was inside, I headed for the breakfast buffet and stuffed myself. I hadn't eaten that much yesterday so I was starving.

After breakfast, I took a long, hot shower (which was much needed) then camped out in the corner to do some work. Needless to say I was exhausted drifting in and out of sleep. The highlight of my day was when I got to speak to my amazing girlfriend. I spoke to Nadia over SKYPE for about 30 minutes until it was time to board.

I passed out the entire flight. I fell asleep while in London and woke up when I arrived in Athens. AMAZING!

Arrival in Athens was easy. After I got my pack I prepared myself for the challenge of finding my way to my Cousin Mick's house only to be pleasantly surprised by him and his 2 kids, Walton and Grace. I'm going to be staying with them during my stay in Athens.

When we arrived at the house I saw Mary-Beth, my cousin's wife. They showed me my apartment which is awesome. Own room, bathroom and kitchen. I dropped my pack and they took me out for my first Greek dinner.

For those of you who don't know, I try to eat vegetarian. In LA, I eat sushi and sometimes chicken. But when I travel, I like to have some of the local cuisine, even if it is meat but definitely not mayo. We all ate family style and I had a little of everything including lamb. It was my first time and my feelings were mixed but overall, not bad. Not something I would like to eat everyday but managable.

It was nice to finally see Mary-Beth, Walton and Grace. I can already tell that I'm going to love my stay in Athens.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Good Bye and Alone in the City

I woke up early this morning cause Darcel had to be out of her dorm by 10 am. We said good-bye until September when she comes to the U.S. to stay with me.

I stayed in Wood Green to do some work for about 1 ½ hours. After I finished my work I made my way to the Victoria Train Station to drop off my pack. Then it was just me, London and the 7 British pounds (1 pound = 2 dollars) that I had left.

I was hungry and on a budget, so I decided to go to Burrough Market to see what it had to offer. The Burrough Market dates back to 13th century and is the mother of all farmer's markets. They had fresh fish, wild game, fruits, veggies, fresh loafs of bread and a plethora, yes a plethora, of different foods. Anyways, I was hungry and had little money for food so I went around for about 2 hours getting free samples.

When I was full, I took the tube to Leicester Square which is the theatre district of London. I said, "What the hell? Why not?" And I decided to see a show on my own. I figured "We Will Rock You" would be particularly fitting being that Queen is the most successful British group of all time (according to Wiki). I also heard from my friend Angela who saw the production in London that it was a great show with great music.

I sat at a Cafe to do some work only to be interrupted by a horde of British bicyclists blowing whistles while riding down the street, NAKED!!! It was a horrible sight to see. There were hundreds of them riding down the street with their stuff flapping in the wind. I think I just threw up a little bit in the back of my mouth just thinking about it.

I grabbed a quick pint of cider and watched the end of the spain vs. sweden football match before the show started. Spain won 3-1.

I really liked the show! The story wasn't my favorite although it was pretty funny at times but the music and singing was awesome. I guess I'm just a little spoiled from "Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway.

After the show I headed to the train station to pick up my bag, then to the airport before the tubes closed. Unfortunately, the British Airways Lounge was closed so I found a nice booth to camp out on until 5 am when the Lounge opened.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Good Times and Good Company

I woke up today and had to do some work.

After I finished my work, Darcel made lunch. A salad with a toasted bagguet with tomato and fromagge. It was quite good.

After lunch, we went for a long walk to Ali Pali (Alexandra Park and Palace). It had a gorgeous panoramic view of the city. Along our walk, we spoke about South Africa, aparteid and life. Great talk really. She also started teaching me brit lingo. More on that for another post.

Once we got back from our walk, we had to get ready for dinner. We were meeting up with a bunch of Darcel's friends because they were all parting ways from Uni. One was graduating, and most of the others were going back home from their semester abroad. The group comprised of students from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, South Africa, England, Malaysia and the US. We set off to go to Central via the tube and found ourselves near Burroughs and the Thames River at a nice Italian restaurant. Everybody in the group was extremely nice and welcoming. I ended up mainly speaking to Darcel (South Africa), Brenci (US) and Pickie (Malaysia).

After dinner and drinks, we all headed for the Cuban, in Camden Market, which is a Salsa club in the middle of London's Goth/Grunge district. I can't remember the last time I danced so much. Brenci showed us all up with her Salsa. She minors in dance and grew up in Peru. Darcel rocked the reggaeton while I held my own.

After the club, we picked up a couple ciders and took the bus home, stopping for falafels on the way of course. I was up til around 5 am talking to Brenci and Darcel.

Labels: brenci, cuban, salsa

Thursday, June 12, 2008

A Night on the Thames

Today was more of a chillax day. I was a little jet-lagged and spent from last night so I decided to sleep in and have a leisurely day. We woke up late morning and hit the town. Darcel had to take care of some passport business at the South African Embassy (she was born in South Africa and moved to England eight years ago). While she was taking care of business, I hung out in the Trafalgar/Leicester Square areas. I sat in a cafe and sipped a machiatto while reading for bit just taking in the surroundings. I must admit, my overall impression of London has definitely changed. It actually is a pretty swinging city.

After the cafe, I went to the National Portrait Museum which is a beautiful building in Trafalgar Square. Inside was pretty interesting too although portrait paintings aren't really my bag, baby.

When I met up with Darcel again we were trying to plan for the night ahead. We went to SoHo in search of tickets to a South African comic, but alas, tickets were sold out. We decided to get tickets to an unknown comic which we got at 2 for the price of 1 and all it cost us is a fiver.

Still jet lagged, we went back to her place and I took a nap before the comedy show.

The comedy show was a lot of fun. It was a one man show where he spent the first half of the show just making cracks at the audience. He tore into Darcel about her South African accent pretty brutally that I couldn't stop laughing. He next moved on to me about being an American and also eating fast food(which I will never understand). Do I look like I eat fast food?

After the show, we walked around London at night which is a much different, and in my opinion, much better sight. I led us through(by this time I had already oriented myself with the city) a nice walk by the parliament building and big ben as well as the aquarium across the Themes river, past the London Eye and back to Leicester square. Quite a magificent site.

We caught the tube back to Wood Green, ate some falafels and called it a night. Cheers!

Labels: comedy, Thames river

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Meeting up with an old friend in swinging London

My short visit with my parents went well. It was composed of eating, eating and more eating including some of the best Indian food that we've ever eaten. We also went to the European flagship Whole foods store which was a 3 level paradise with all the different foods you could imagine, with Wifi Internet! After our eating, we decided to walk around Hyde park which was amazing especially with the gorgeous weather and hot sun.

The next day, we parted ways on the tube as I headed Covent Garden to meet Darcel, a girl who I befriended last year on my travels in Antigua, Guatemala. Even though I knew her for a short time in Guatemala, we quickly picked up where we left off and were non-stop talking and catching up. She is currently studying at the Middlesex University in Northern London and I will be staying with her at University housing.

Even though this is my 2nd time in London, I don't feel I really got to know London my last time here. I did see all the sites but I never got to just enjoy London.

Darcel took me to all the best neighborhoods including Camden, Leicester Square, SoHo and Westminster. We actually walked from neighborhood to neighborhood which made me realize how small London is. For lunch we went to a Turkish joint where I had Falafels which were to die for. We walked, shopped and talked until around 8pm and it was still light out. It doesn't get dark until around 9-10pm.

We headed back to Darcel's place but first stopped by Morrisons (the local supermarket) for a little grocery shopping. I wasn't much help because Darcel asked me to go pick up a cucumber and I ended up grabbing something that resembled a cucumber but really was a squash called Courgette aka a zuccini. Back at housing, I had to do some consulting work while Darcel and her Malaysian friend Dalia cooked a really nice dinner of pasta with prawns, butternut squash, olives, garlic, paprika and herbs.

Dinner was fabulous. My complements to the Executive chef and Sous chef. After dinner we showered up and got ready to experience the nightlife that London has to offer. We went to Shoreditch and walked around looking for an English Pub. We stopped at a place that had a nice chill scene and Darcel introduced me to English Cider. Actually it was Irish Magnus and Swedish +46 but it was still damn good. After the pub we continued on our leisurely stroll even though it had started to rain a little. We found a club that was going off for a Wednesday and ended up dancing the rest of the night to bashment music (a combination of reggae, hip hop and drum & base). After the club at around 3 am we waited for the bus cause the tube was closed while Darcel helped 2 french girls with directions in broken english, french and I helped with spanish.

We grabbed more falafels before going to bed at around 4 am.

Labels: camden, cider, Darcel, falafel, London

Monday, June 09, 2008

Escape from L.A.

After 6 months of planning, I'm on my adventure. I packed the bare minimum, just non-name brand clothes, a Kindle, EeePC, and a camera. Like I said, the bare necessities to survive 3 months in scorching hot weather. I will be lugging around a measly 29 pounds of "stuff" as I attempt to traverse thousands of miles in 12 weeks.

I spent the last week scrambling to get everything that I thought I would need for my trip. I didn't want to forget anything. After 3 hours sleep, my beautiful girlfriend, Nadia, dropped me off and next thing you know, there was no turning back.
Currently, I am still en route to meet my parents in London whom I haven't seen since early April because they were on their own excursion to the Greek islands.

The first leg of my voyage was easy thanks to flying 1st Class. I was greeted with my favorite, warm nuts and champagne. Why not? I found myself snearing at the untouchables at the back of the plane as I ate my delicious grilled salmon while they payed $10 for cheese and crackers. I don't think there is any going back from here, I'm too spoiled now.

My flight from Toronto to London was the best flight of my life. My business class seat was one of the seats that turn into a bed. After I finished my grilled veggie panini, I had some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies with hot chocolate. After that it was lights out cause I hadn't slept in a couple days and I didn't want to get jet-lagged. Slept like a baby...

I met my parents in London, whom I haven't seen since March and now we're off living off the fat of the land before their flight tomorrow morning.

Gone 'til September

Summer is upon us and that means I'm off on another one of my big adventures. This time I'll be gallivanting (backpacking really) through the Middle East.

My tentative itinerary as of now is England until the 15th where I'll be visiting friends, then off to Greece where I'll be island hopping for about 2 weeks. In the beginning of July I have to find an apartment in Cairo, Egypt where I will be studying Modern Standard Arabic for 5 weeks at the language institute. I'll be going on excursions all over Egypt, Jordan (to visit my beautiful girlfriend) and Israel. After my school ends. I'll have to find my way through Syria and/or Lebanon to Istanbul, Turkey where I depart from mid August. On my way back to L.A. I'll be stopping in NY to visit friends and family.

Check back periodically because I will be posting updates and pictures as frequently as possible given the availability of IP.

"If you ask me what I came into this world to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud."
-Emile Zola